Baby You're a Firework: A Learren Story
by manda.marie20
Summary: Darren is coping with Lea being gone for almost a year. He goes to a party at Chris's house and has a hard time focusing on anything but Lea.
1. Chapter 1

Baby You're A Firework

The fourth of July approached fairly slowly. Darren's summer dragging on, not only because he was without Lea, but because he couldn't find anything to keep him busy. All he could think about was when Lea was supposed to come home. August 23. "Just a month and a few weeks" he would tell himself. "You can do this."  
>But, in reality, he knew he couldn't. It was nearly impossible- no, it WAS impossible- to stop thinking about Lea. Every second of every day, his world constantly revolved around his girlfriend. She had been gone for close to 5 months now, doing a tour to promote her new solo album.<br>Those months were really hard on Darren, especially since work for him had wound down over the summer. The movies he had to shoot were already in the post-filming phase, and song writing took too much effort.  
>Lea was his main inspiration for his music, so when she was gone, it was hard to find a subject other than her to write about. Composing songs about her while she was gone just depressed him further.<br>"Darren. DARREN." Chris said, shaking Darren's shoulder. "Helloooo. Anyone in there?" Chris asked, knocking on the other boy's head.  
>Darren snapped out of his daydream and came back to the present. His mind felt like it had just been fried to a crisp. He was killing himself slowly with thinking about Lea so much. He seriously needed to stop that, and he knew it, but he just... COULDN'T.<br>The sky was beginning to change color, turning a deep shade of pink and orange mixed together. Looking around, he realized that a lot of time had passed since he was actually paying attention to the world around him.  
>He heard a chorus of voices coming from behind him in Christopher's house. For a moment, he couldn't remember why he was there. Shutting his eyes hard and holding the bridge of his nose in between his thumb and index finger, he sighed heavily. "Oh, right." he told himself, "It's a party."<br>Gathering himself, he stood up and looked at Chris. "Hey man you need any help?" he asked the porcelain-skinned boy.  
>"Oh, no it's okay, Dare. You just go enjoy the party. I'll be in there in just a sec." Chris replied with a smile.<br>Darren made his way into the living room where at least 200 people were crammed from wall to wall. He swam through the sea of unfamiliar faces, not taking a second glance for anything. Everyone blurred past him in his peripheral vision, like they were just faceless mannequins. None of this felt... REAL. It felt like a filler in his life, just something to occupy the empty void.  
>The food table looked extremely taunting, so he gave in to his hunger and ambled over to get something. Several people said hello to him, and he answered back but with a monotone voice.<br>After grabbing a handful of goldfish that Chris had in a huge glass bowl, he walked over toward a free wall. Standing by himself seemed like a good thing at first, but as soon as he started thinking about Lea again, he knew he needed to mingle.  
>Darren looked across the room, not seeing anyone he really knew THAT well. Most of the people there were co-stars from Chris's new movie, and Chris invited Darren because he thought it'd be good bonding time.<br>Halfway through the crowd, he spotted Cory. He smiled to himself slightly and walked over toward the tall boy.  
>"Hey man." Darren said, hitting Cory's arm playfully. At first, Cory didn't see him, but after a few seconds he turned his full attention to Darren.<br>"Darren!" Cory practically yelled, capturing the short boy in a bear hug. After he let Darren go, he smiled and asked, "So how are you, brother?"  
>Darren had to push the words "miserable" and "depressed" from his mind before responding. "I'm doing alright. What about you?" he said with a fake joyful voice.<br>"I'm great! Dianna just told me that she'd finally go out with me, so you can only imagine how happy I am now." Cory responded, smiling.  
>"Yeah, I can only imagine." Darren responded solemnly.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

"Okay guys get ready! We're going to start the fireworks in just a few minutes!" Chris yelled into the living room.  
>Several people started filing outside, but Darren, who was now standing alone again, was just standing in the background. He had his hands shoved deep into his pockets, and was staring at the hardwood floor, wishing for... for SOMETHING.<br>Chris stalked over toward Darren and started jerking on his arm, trying to get him to walk outside. "Darren, come ON." he said, pulling on the older boy with all his might. "You have to see this. I promise you it'll be worth it."  
>After a few more minutes of arm pulling and reassuring words, Darren finally walked outside with Chris. They got outside just as the fireworks were starting. They were weak at first, a few duds at the beginning, but after the first few, they grew in size and brightness.<br>Darren had just remembered that Lea was supposed to call him before 10, like she always did. But it was now 11, and she hadn't. He got out his phone to check and see if he had just missed her call.  
>As soon as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, he saw the notification, "1 New Text Message." He was relieved to see that she had texted him after all, even though it was weird that she just didn't call. He clicked on "open," and it was a picture from Lea that looked like a brightly lit house... Sort of like CHRIS's house.<br>He knew he was just imagining things. Reading the message that accompanied the picture, it read, "I love this house, and it looks so pretty tonight, don't you think?"  
>Confused, Darren looked at the picture again, recognizing that it WAS Chris's house, with the fireworks in the background. Dropping his phone to the ground, Darren started running toward the front of the house. He stopped short when Chris grabbed him by the arm.<br>"What the- Chris let GO of me!"  
>Instead of releasing the boy, Chris positioned him at the backside of the house, from where he came from. As if by magic, a silhouette of a woman emerged from the darkness. At first, Darren looked at her with confusion.<br>Why had Chris turned him this way? There was nothing to see but some girl.

The fireworks lit up her face with each flash. As she neared him, he started to make sense of who it was. His breath caught in his throat.  
><em><strong>LEA.<strong>_  
>Trying to not trip over his own feet, Darren took a few slow steps toward Lea before bolting forward. He knocked the wind out of her, but neither he nor she cared. They welcomed each other into an enormous embrace.<br>A few tears escaped Darren's eyes. He couldnt believe it. Lea was HERE, with him, safe in his arms. They stayed enveloped in each others arms for what seemed like an eternity before they pulled away. Darren quickly grabbed Lea's hand. He had already lost her for so long, he couldn't bring himself to let go of her now.


End file.
